Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Towards Hepatitis B Vaccine among Clinical Year Students in University of Gondar College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Northwest, Ethiopia

Background: Hepatitis B is a viral infection that attacks the liver and can cause both acute and chronic disease. It is the world’s most common serious liver infection. Two billion people have been infected with hepatitis B virus. Approximately 1.5 million people are chronically infected. An estimated 820,000 people die each year from hepatitis B and related complications such as liver cancer. Objective: The aim of this study is to assess the knowledge, attitude and vaccination status of clinical year students against hepatitis B infection at University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia 2023. Method: An institutional based cross-sectional study design was conducted at the University of Gondar. A convenience sampling technique was used to select the study samples of participants. A structured self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. After data collection data cleaning was done to avoid misleading data. The data collected was entered into and analyzed using statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS, version 20) software. Results: This study aims to assess knowledge, attitude and practice towards hepatitis B and associated factors in clinical year students in University of Gondar college of medicine and health science. From total of 465 students, 443 students had responded to the question. According to our study 3.6% of participants had vaccinated the full dose for hepatitis B. Conclusion: Our study revealed that 3.6% of study participants received full dose vaccination against hepatitis B virus. We would like to recommend all students in the healthcare professional to be vaccinated before they start clinical attachments, provisions of training for students on infection prevention mechanisms, and universal precautions particularly on HBV.